


Filling the Void

by luvtheheaven



Category: Switched at Birth (TV)
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-10-04
Updated: 2013-12-04
Packaged: 2018-01-18 01:00:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,859
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1409188
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/luvtheheaven/pseuds/luvtheheaven
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mary Beth and Travis begin to date. Some more heavy or angst-filled stuff will be in here (in addition to lots of cute fluff) as Mary Beth is still grieving her brother and Travis has some different yet also complex emotions toward his own estranged family. Other characters who have relationships with Mary Beth or Travis, such as Bay, Emmett, Melody, etc. will likely appear. Enjoy! (Categorized as "Romance/Family" when I first posted this on fanfiction.net. First chapter was posted there on October 4, 2013.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Start of Something Really Great

**Author's Note:**

> So I searched fanfiction.net before posting this first chapter, below, in October 2013 and apparently no Mary Beth fics exist yet, and only two Travis fics, one of which is a VERY short Noah/Travis friendship oneshot? This is a ridiculous shame. I adore both of these characters, and I am happy to start writing a fic for them now. They deserve way more attention in the Switched at Birth fandom community, in general, in my opinion.
> 
> I will try to explore their journey in a realistic way, starting with what we really saw happen on the show in seasons 1 and 2 for both of their characters - including the two episodes in which they interacted in season 2, 2x18 "As The Shadows Deepen" and 2x20 "The Merrymakers". Since season 2 is all that has aired as of the time of me writing it, only seasons 1-2 will count as canon. Season 3 will undoubtedly deviate, in many ways, from the story I tell in my fic here.
> 
> In this fic, I will include other Switched at Birth characters such as Emmett and Melody, since Travis is currently living with them; Bay, since Mary Beth is friends with her; etc. I will try to bring Travis' family into the story and Mary Beth's backstory with her late brother, Justin, as well. 
> 
> For chapter 1, below, I recount a lot of what we actually saw in episode 2x18. But I begin to add in a few of my own details, and chapter 2 will be much more unique. I hope you like it. Enjoy!

_You want to go out sometime?_

Mary Beth read the words on his cell phone screen and then looked back into his face in surprise. He was asking her on a date! No one had ever done that before. She'd had crushes before, but none of the guys she'd ever liked had ever liked her back.

Travis looked back at her expectantly, awaiting her reply. Flustered, she averted her eyes nervously and felt the corners of her mouth curl, involuntarily, into a smile.

"Yeah, uh… sure!" she quickly replied while shyly looking down toward his phone, which was still in her hands.

She looked up and immediately saw from the look on his face that he was still awaiting an answer. She felt stupid. The guy was deaf! Of course mumbling her acceptance wasn't going to suffice.

"Uh… yes," she finally answered more clearly, looking right at him as she said it, and simultaneously signing one of the few signs she'd actually learned before this shift. "Yes" was a simple shaking of her fist in a particular position. She nodded vigorously to add to the effect, sure one of the three things was bound to get her answer across.

His face lit up with a smile.

"Uh… I'm, uh…" she trailed off, trying to sign her own name. She had thought she'd memorized the alphabet that morning, but now it was proving quite difficult. She only got through the "Mary" part before giving up.

"Mary Beth," she told him, hoping maybe he could just read her lips.

He seemed to get it. Then he started to reply and signed out the letters of his own name. Clearly, he was going very slowly for her benefit, and she appreciated it.

"Trav… i…" she read aloud what she was seeing him sign. "Travis!" She got his name. She smiled, giddy at everything right now. She was going on a date! She had successfully conveyed her own name to him _and_ understood his! Things were going so well, so far. She nervously looked down at the phone in her hands again, with which she'd been mindlessly fiddling. She noticed the black protective case which was not a feature of her own phone.

"Here! Sorry," she blurted out as she handed it back to its rightful owner, apologizing for holding onto it for slightly too long. She let out a chuckle and he smiled at her as he slid it into his pocket.

They stared at each other for a few more moments, but then Mary Beth heard commotion as everyone started gathering for the showing of the film. She looked over at Travis questioningly and pointed in that general direction. He turned around and saw what she was referring to. He returned to face her, then pointed to the Deafenstein poster on his T-shirt with a smile. Using ASL, he asked if she wanted to join him over there. She nodded, glad that games were now officially closed for the evening so that she wouldn't have to miss the movie.

They were walking over together, but on their way Emmett sighted his friend and pulled Travis away from Mary Beth. Travis looked back toward her apologetically, and before he knew it he found himself seated beside Emmett with no spot beside him for the girl he'd just asked out.

She didn't sweat it, however, and found herself an open seat on the other side of that aisle that was fairly nearby. In fact, she had a nice view of her suitor from where she was sitting. She looked at the back of his head as she waited for the film to begin rolling.

Earlier that day he had been completely wasted. She had told him she didn't find it a turn on, and she hadn't been lying. But somehow, mere moments later, she had already started to find him quite attractive. She had been rooting for him to win the extra round of the game that he wasn't even supposed to be allowed to play. She had felt genuinely bad for him as he lost, because he, unlike most players, was clearly so disappointed. When he'd returned to claim his hoodie, she had no idea that he was going to ask her out, but she was so surprised to realize just how glad she was that he had. There was something special about him. She couldn't wait to get to know him better.

As the film started, she found herself confused. The film was shown entirely in ASL, and she didn't really know enough of the words to appreciate much. But she tried to take in the body language and facial expressions, and tried to interpret some of the more obvious signs. She wished she'd read the classic Frankenstein novel or seen a regular English film about the characters before - something to help her grasp a bit more of the story.

After about twenty minutes, she found herself sucked in just the same. She was able to understand enough. There was a lot of over-acting and it was pretty clear how silly the film was, despite trying to take itself seriously. What was meant to scare viewers had the audience cracking up in laughter, and she found herself surprised by how loud a crowd of mainly deaf folk could be.

Travis looked over at the girl repeatedly throughout the film, wondering how she was reacting to his favorite parts. He was thrilled to find her smiling hugely and even laughing at the film, clearly enjoying it fully. He spent a large portion of the film looking backwards, instead of forwards toward the movie being projected onto the large screen. Emmett noticed, then tapped his friend on the arm.

"What are you looking for?" he signed as discretely as he could, not wanting to distract anyone viewing the film with obvious hand movements.

"I'm just looking at a girl," Travis answered, also keeping his hands close to his body and his movements as slow and covert as he could.

"A girl?" Emmett asked suggestively, teasing him a bit.

Travis tried to ignore him and went back to watching the film.

As it ended, Mary Beth clapped enthusiastically. She'd loved it. Travis was participating in the deaf culture's version of applause as he turned and noticed her doing it wrong. When she met his gaze, he made it clear that she shouldn't clap that way, and she quickly understood and corrected her method.

As everyone started to get up to leave, Travis gestured to her. She approached him along with his friend, and Travis introduced her to Emmett.

"This is Mary Beth. We're going to be going on a date." It was all in ASL, so Mary Beth wasn't entirely sure what he was signing at the end. Emmett smiled at her and reached out his hand to shake hers. When their hands parted, he decided to introduce himself to her.

"Hi, I'm Emmett," he signed slowly. She did know the alphabet well enough to get it, and she was proud of herself.

"Oh, Emmett!" she said in cheerful recognition. "You know Bay well, right? You got us the film?" She felt bad talking so much, when she had no idea how much these deaf guys could or couldn't understand through lip-reading alone.

Emmett, however, nodded.

"I'll leave you two alone, now," he signed to Travis. Mary Beth had no idea what he'd said, but she watched him leave.

Silently, they walked together toward the parking lot. They didn't try to communicate again until they had reached Mary Beth's car.

"So… we should probably set up a time and place for the date, or at least exchange phone numbers," Mary Beth suggested verbally.

Travis furrowed his brow in confusion. He couldn't read lips quite as fast as she was talking.

"Sorry," she said. She held up a finger, asking him to wait one second, then proceeded to find her own phone in her purse and do what he'd done earlier. She composed a note that said:

_Could I get your phone number?_

Then she handed it to him, and watched as he read it. He smiled, of course quickly understanding the request, and looked up at her, nodding. He then entered his digits directly into the "contact" section of her phone.

Handing it back to her, he then signed, "Text me, and that way I'll have your number." She was pretty sure she understood him, and nodded.

She proceeded to open the driver's door of her car and before getting in, she sweetly waved at him. He returned the gesture, then turned his back on her and walked away.

Mary Beth sat in awe of the events that had just transpired. She had been so immersed, quite suddenly, in deaf culture, and now found herself planning to try to forge a relationship with a guy who was deaf himself. She wondered how they could ever possibly get past their massive communication barrier. It'd be a challenge that she found herself excited to try and work around. She had a strong feeling that this thing she was starting with Travis would be the start of something really great.


	2. Texting

Travis, back at Melody and Emmett's home later that evening, felt his phone vibrate and pulled it out of his pocket. He looked down to see the lit up screen. He felt so excited as he saw a text from Mary Beth. Carefully, he saved her number into his phone before replying.

_Yeah, tonight was great. So even without knowing ASL, you enjoyed the film?_

_Definitely. I could appreciate enough._

_Awesome. UR pretty good at ASL for a hearing person, btw._

_Really?_

Travis considered her question. He realized he had a very limited sample of hearing people with whom he'd interacted. The Carlton school principal was a CODA so of course she was just as good as the Deaf folks with whom he'd interacted. There was Bay, who had dated Emmett pretty seriously for months, and who had been switched at birth with a girl who had been signing since she was three, so it made sense she'd be good too. Even Toby had some motivation to learn to sign, for his newly discovered sister and for Emmett who was in his band, and even for Travis' sake since Travis was now one of his employees. (Travis hated thinking about that. He'd wanted so badly to have been chosen to be the manager.)

But then there was John, whose daughter was Deaf but who struggled with even the simplest signs, even after months of practice. And there was Travis' family, who had never bothered to even try. So, yeah. Mary Beth, who presumably had not even attempted a single sign before today, was pretty good. He thought so, at least.

_Really._

He waited for her reply. He was sitting on a very nice couch, alone in the living room. Emmett and his mother were watching something on TV over in the next room.

_I want to learn more before we go on our date. But I don't even know where to begin!_

He could understand how overwhelmed she probably felt.

_Don't worry about it too much. I can be patient and have gotten pretty good at reading lips over the years._

A part of him was worried she'd be like what Wilke was for Daphne. The complete opposite of Bay. A hearing person who didn't even try. He never intended to give her permission to not try. But there he was, basically doing just that. He couldn't help it. He knew she'd try anyway, even though he didn't really know her at all yet. But he had a good gut feeling about her. She seemed like the type to try.

They set up a time and place for their first date. It'd be in two days, they'd go see a movie at the theater in town that had closed captioning. Then they'd go to get ice cream afterwards, at a little place not too far away.

He remembered how horribly buying the rose for Daphne had gone. He was so nervous he'd do something similar to screw this up. He was glad they didn't have to sit through an entire meal together, worried their communication barrier would be a problem. Eventually, he hoped they would do all sorts of things together. But for now… he wanted to take things slow.

Taking things slow included not texting her too much right away. He didn't want to seem overly desperate or something. So as much as he was curious to find out more about who she was and what her life was like, he decided to just be patient and wait for their first date.

He set his phone up to start charging and then casually joined the Blesdoes in the other room. They welcomed him kindly, then returned their attention to the closed captioned program.

Travis was so glad things in his life were finally really fitting into place. A girl he liked seemed genuinely interested in him, and he was starting to feel like a part of this little family too. Life really wasn't so bad.


	3. Brothers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some minor spoilers for the 2013 film Man of Steel are included in this chapter. I believe everything I mentioned happened in the first half of the movie, though. I've never seen the film, but from what I can tell, these plot points are more set-up than surprise conclusions. (I've seen all 10 seasons of Smallville and all 4 seasons of Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman so I do know something about this universe, which is part of why I chose to have that be the movie Travis and Mary Beth went to see.)
> 
> I also name Travis' brother in this chapter. Hehe.
> 
> Um… enjoy!

Mary Beth looked over at Travis, trying not to take her eyes off of him as they walked away from the theater and toward the ice-cream parlor. They had decided to see _Man of Steel_ , which overall Mary Beth had enjoyed, although she'd felt some of the action sequences had lasted too long, and there were a few other things preventing her from considering the movie "amazing". Her date was recounting what had happened in the film. He seemed to be excitedly acting out one of the action sequences. She smiled at him, and then glanced ahead briefly, seeing that they were nearing a crosswalk. They needed to pause in their tracks and wait for the light to allow them to walk.

Travis finished his reenactment of Zod killing Jor-El and they ended up going the rest of the way to the shop without any new thoughts being shared. Travis kindly gestured for "ladies first", and had his date not only walk into the store before him, but also place her Mint Chocolate Chip order prior to his. She smiled, flattered in a small way by his chivalry. It was so nice to have the chance to feel like a girl. Travis then wanted to order his own ice cream, without verbally talking to the employee, and Mary Beth stepped back, watching in intense curiosity to see how the effort would play out. At first the young woman behind the counter was impatient for him to begin his order. Then the worker realized he was pointing, and she asked him a question which he not only didn't hear, but which Mary Beth also noticed he didn't see her ask. The young woman in the apron got a bit confused, and Mary Beth was tempted to go over there and help. But she lingered back a few seconds longer, and sure enough the employee finally caught on to how Travis needed to communicate his order to her. She then started scooping some Rocky Road ice cream into a cone for him.

Travis paid for both of their orders while Mary Beth fidgeted with the strap of her purse and thought about how maybe she should have paid for her own. She wasn't sure what to think of the tradition of the guy always paying. She had a bit of cash, after working all summer at Maui Kansas. But she didn't stop him. She let it happen.

They took their ice creams outside, since it was a very pleasant summer evening, and sat across from one another at one of those small round tables. Travis licked a stray drip, then smiled widely, clearly enjoying the treat.

With his free hand, signed slowly for Mary Beth's sake.

"Is your ice cream as delicious as mine?"

She smiled, pretty sure she understood him, and then nodded, not feeling the need to talk or sign in this moment. She took another taste of her own. This was a great ice cream place.

She wanted to ask him how he enjoyed the movie, one of the few ASL things she'd carefully been sure to memorize and really learn before leaving for this date tonight. But now here she was with one of her hands busy holding onto an ice cream cone, so she couldn't say anything. She wasn't ready for this one-handed signing stuff that Travis was so adept at. Besides, she needed to focus on eating her ice cream before it all melted and she made an embarrassing mess all over the table, or worse, herself.

Travis ended up asking her the question. And because of her studying in preparation for the date, she understood exactly what he said. She nodded. It had been a good movie. A slight shadow passed over her face, though. She didn't intend to let Travis see it, but he did.

"What's wrong?" he asked, and again, Mary Beth understood his question. She felt a little proud of herself. ASL communication was working between them, so far.

"Oh," she answered verbally, not sure how to answer. What was wrong was that her brother would have loved to have seen this movie. She was never as into the superhero stuff, but her older brother? He lived for it. Even being a badass military dude, he was somehow never embarrassed to admit to loving men in spandex saving the world. And seeing the movie had made her miss him so terribly. It didn't help that Jonathan Kent had died and Clark had been all sad that his father hadn't gotten to see who he had become. Things like that… Justin's death was too recent. It still hurt so terribly. She related to it on far too deep a level.

Travis was patiently waiting for an answer. He wanted to know what was troubling her. She ate another bite of her cone and smiled at him. Being here, on a date with Travis… she was having a really nice time. It helped make her grief not feel overwhelming. She didn't want him to think _anything_ was wrong.

She started to try to sign with her only free hand.

"I… thinking…" she hesitated. How did you sign, 'brother'? How did you sign, 'I was thinking about my brother'? She was very frustrated.

"You can talk," Travis offered, ready to read her lips.

"I was just thinking about my brother," she tried to explain.

She didn't really want to explain that he was dead, but it was inevitable that if they really got to know each other, it'd come up. And she liked Travis a lot. She wanted there to be a second date, and a third. She wanted him to eventually get to know her that well. So she continued.

"He would have loved to have seen that movie."

Travis nodded, successfully having read her lips and fully understanding what she'd said. The only thing he didn't understand was the subtlety that "would have loved" actually meant "he is dead". But Mary Beth had not expected him to pick up that little detail. He finished his ice cream dessert.

"Brother," he signed for her benefit, and then he spoke with the voice he was always so hesitant to use. She understood that he was teaching her a sign.

She finished her ice cream as well, and then imitated him.

"Brother?" she asked nervously, wondering if she was signing it correctly. It was a pretty big motion. She'd later go home and learn it was actually a compound word – "boy" and "same", as if a boy from the same parent or something. So that would explain why it was two distinct movements she had to make – a closing of her hand up near her head, and then in front of her body her two index fingers lining up together, palms down.

She followed his lead about three times until she was pretty sure she'd gotten it.

He shook his fist, the ASL sign for yes, and she smiled, pleased that she had learned a new word.

He then proceeded to use the word in a sentence of his own.

"My brother would love to see this movie too," he signed.

"Oh?" she asked. She moved back to signing, realizing she should try to avoid using her vocal chords whenever possible.

"You… brother?"

She wasn't very good at the process yet. He understood that she was _trying_ to ask, 'You have a brother?', though, and he was gracious enough to reply accordingly.

"Yes," he began, continuing to be careful to sign slowly and read her face constantly for understanding. "My brother is 12, and his name is A-u-s-t-i-n."

"Austin," she replied, sounding out what he'd just finger spelled. It reminded her far too much of her own brother's name. In fact, every letter was the same except for one.

"My brother… 21," she explained. "J-u-s-t-i-n," she spelled out. It was easier to remember those letters because of Travis having just moments ago signed most of them. She then wanted to tell him he was dead, but she didn't know the sign for that.

"He's…" she began, hesitantly, using her voice.

He stared at her mouth intently.

"Dead," she finished.

Travis's eyebrows shot up in shock.

"Dead?" he asked in ASL, slowly turning his hand over.

Mary Beth didn't know the sign, but she felt like it definitely could be 'dead'. She nodded, then decided to start elaborating. She spoke slowly, looking right at him, hoping he'd be able to understand her.

"He was in Afghanistan."

Travis continued to listen with his eyes, seeming to understand so far.

 _But he didn't die over there,_ she mentally added. She wasn't sure she really wanted to try to explain. The war was what killed him, in the end. Was it necessary to bring up that it'd been suicide? She decided, for now, to try to just move past this subject.

"I just really… miss him, sometimes," Mary Beth said simply.

Travis reached out and placed his hand on hers, comfortingly.

The date ended not long after that, with almost nothing new being shared. They parted ways in the parking lot where they'd both driven separately to meet each other, sharing a sweet non-verbal goodbye including lingering stares and some waves. Mary Beth had been kind of hoping he'd kiss her goodbye. But maybe he was waiting for the second date for that, she figured. She got in her car and drove herself home, ready to tell her mom that her first date ever had gone quite nicely. She tried not to think about how badly she also wanted to share her story with Justin. She pushed the thoughts to the back of her mind, and wondered if Travis might be telling his little brother anything about her. Mary Beth had no idea that Travis was not going home to Austin that night. They both had so much to learn about each other still. This had just been the very beginning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (I wrote this author's note on December 4, 2013.)
> 
> I never saw the film Man of Steel lol. So hopefully I didn't make a fool of myself by having them talk about it. Let me know, please, if I have any glaring errors. Also, I'm not 100% sure it'd still be in theaters by the time Mary Beth and Travis would be going on this date. I don't really know what month this was supposed to be. But I figured generically that a summer 2013 movie would be acceptable.
> 
> On a very different note, my uncle just committed suicide about ten days ago, and I was there. He had been spending the day at a museum with his wife, his son, his wife's brother (my dad), and me, when he decided to jump off what I suppose was a very tempting high ledge. None of us actually saw him jump, but we heard the thud and saw his body afterwards. He had attempted suicide once seven years ago, and again only two months ago, both times with sleeping pills – but he had also successfully been treating and living with his depression for the majority of his life. His wife and son were so sure he had been getting better and was even well enough to fly 500 miles across the country to visit me and my family. We were all supposed to be able to have a fun Thanksgiving week family vacation. It is so sad that he was not able to be saved this time.
> 
> Going through this experience in my own personal life has made me feel tempted to explore Mary Beth's experience with her brother, Justin, committing suicide. For a soldier, the underlying factors are a bit different than what they were for my uncle. But still, all stories about suicide have a lot in common. And the differences between different people's experiences are hard not to think about too. There are always so many "what ifs" you have to ask yourself. So that is the direction I started to take this chapter. I hope it was okay. I hope to write more in this vein asap as well. I'm not done exploring Justin's suicide and what it means for his sister. But don't worry. I also have been planning since the beginning to explore more of what growing up has been like for Travis, and other stuff too. I want this story to evolve naturally, so if that means not exploring the suicide stuff as much as I want to, whatever. My main goal is to write a compelling little story for all Mary Beth and Travis fans to enjoy.
> 
> Please leave me a review so that I know people are actually reading this fic and that people want me to update it! Thank you.


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